The Florida Panthers have placed forward Matthew Tkachuk on long term injured reserve with a groin injury he suffered during the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Tkachuk, who has missed the last four games with the injury, is believed to have suffered it prior to the championship game vs. Canada. The usually pesky forward was limited to just 6:47 of ice time against the Canadians in the final, and could be seen in visibly discomfort on the bench throughout the contest.
With the 27 year old sidelined, Evan Rodrigues and Mackie Samoskevich could see additional ice time. Tkachuk has amassed 57 points (22G, 35A) through 52 NHL games this season.
While the LTIR designation will give the Panthers financial relief (the team now has $8.7M in cap space heading into Friday’s trade deadline), it also means that Tkachuk will need to sit out at least the next 10 games and 24 days. That means that the power-forward will be ineligible to return to the lineup until March 20th at the earliest when Florida takes on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
While some Panthers fans have griped about losing their star player to what amounts to an exhibition tournament, head coach Paul Maurice isn’t among them. “It is well worth the risk to display our sport to people in a fantastic way… It’s a risk every day. Every time they step on the ice, that’s possible,” he told reporters following news of the move.
The Panthers currently sit 2nd in the Atlantic Division with a 37-21-3 record through 61 games, 1 point behind the division leading Maple Leafs. The club is next in action on Monday against the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7pm ET.
Photo: Adamkgoodman. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.